24.03.06 – By Troy Ondrizek: Finally we have a chance to see Lamon Brewster, the exciting, heart-stopping slugger who carries the WBO heavyweight belt around his waist, back in action. Lamon has been on a fairly long layoff, for him, since his conquering of Luan Krasniqi back in September of last year. Fans of the sport have been hungering for Brewster to step back in the ring and fill their needs of electrifying a dull division.
The heavyweight division indeed needs Brewster to breathe a little more life into it. The big European fight between two of the division’s biggest sluggers in Vladimir Virchis and Ruslan Chagaev seemed to disappoint because both men were weary of the other’s power; thus leading to a ho-hum points victory for Chagaev. Then just last week the much anticipated match between James Toney and Hasim Rahman, saw Rahman control most of the fight, to only end in a disputed draw. So as we salivated with anticipation of Brewster fighting again, the news broke of a potential fight. I was conceivably joyous; then I heard he was fighting Serguei Lyakhovich. After hearing the news, I was left, well, a little empty inside. I cheer for Brewster because of his style, and willingness to fight anybody anywhere, and frankly, I expected more from him. I blasted Nicolay Valuev for taking Owen Beck as his first defense of his WBA crown. Owen Beck isn’t deserving of a title shot, and luckily for us, the giant got hurt and Beck probably isn’t going to be his future foe. So going back to Brewster, when I heard who Brewster’s opponent was; I didn’t say “who”, like so many people did. I have actually seen tape of Lyakhovich, but I asked, why?
Now as I said before, I have seen Serguei fight; he isn’t a bad fighter at all. In fact, Lyakhovich reminds me of Krasniqi, or Oleg Maskaev. I don’t question the choice of Lyakhovich as an opponent based on his skill level, but I oppose it because he hasn’t fought in over a year; he hasn’t beaten any worthy opponents for a ranking, and he is ranked 14th by the WBO. I mean I was shocked to hear he was ranked at all after his long layoff, and he is ranked behind several more deserving and interesting fighters. Let me name just a couple of fighters that would get Brewster a little more credibility and interest from fight fans. A rematch against Krasniqi would’ve been fine, how about potential bouts with Sultan Ibragimov, Samuel Peter, Ruslan Chagaev, Calvin Brock, Shannon Briggs, Alexander Dimitrenko, or better yet, Danny Williams. All of these men are ranked ahead of Lyakhovich, and not that all are deserving of a title shot, but they all have done more than Serguei to get one.
I wrote an article awhile back questioning whether or not Lamon Brewster was wasting his career, and it was based on his long layoff. Now I ask the same question in regards to his failure to capitalize on his recent success and new found ability to actually capture the respect of fight fans, and be labeled as the best heavyweight champion there is today. To be honest, Lyakhovich, as a good friend of mine constantly states, is a “live underdog” in this bout. Serguei definitely possess the tools to outbox Brewster to go the distance. Serguei has one loss; that loss raises questions about his heart, for he was stopped by the ever so dangerous Maurice Harris. Lyakhovich carries only two wins against reputable opponents, a decision win over Friday Ahunanya, and another decision victory over then prospect Dominick Guinn. The victory over Guinn is the fight that put Lyakhovich into the spotlight. However, due to injuries and cancelled bouts, Serguei hasn’t fought since that fight, and that leads to a sixteen month layoff for him. It is that subsequent layoff and questionable opposition and heart, that leads most to believe that Brewster will send Lyakhovich home unconscious. I would like to see that, not that I dislike Lyakhovich, but I want Brewster to prove himself again against top opposition. Brewster can only do that by defeating Lyakhovich, and hopefully beating Serguei in impressive fashion. Fighters with the style of Lamon; you know them, they take a lot of shots to the head and deliver some punishment in return; than once their opponent is tired, they finish them; a similar fighter is Arturo Gatti. These type of fighters finally run into someone who can simply out-box them, and are eventually out-classed, but never are out-hearted. I am afraid that Brewster’s reign on top won’t last much longer, that is why I feel that he needs to take advantage of it now, and defeat the best fighters out the division has to offer. Therefore if he accomplishes this, Brewster’s legacy will be better than those of his colleagues in John Ruiz, Chris Byrd, and Hasim Rahman’s.
Come April 1st all questions will be answered, unless we have another draw. Brewster can’t look beyond this fight, but if he wins, he needs to look at his future, and try to cement it while he can. However, I doubt this scenario will happen, but I won’t be surprised if Serguei Lyakhovich stuns us all and captures the title. Then we will need to wait for three weeks, then Klitschko and Byrd will face off, and maybe we will see a changing of the guard then. I just hope that I won’t be left hungry again, for I am starving for someone, anybody, to come and prove their dominance over the heavyweight division, and why can’t that be Lamon Brewster?